Nouns: Plural

Countable and uncountable nouns in English

1. Countable nouns

Most of the nouns are countable. You can combine them with numbers, e.g one, two or three. Here is an example:

• one pencil
• two pencils
• three pencils
• four ...

2. Uncountable nouns

These nouns cannot be combined with numbers.

• water
• butter
• coal
• money
• salt
• iron

If you want to express a quantity, you have to use a special phrase e.g. a glass of water.

Note:

Some nouns can be either countable or uncountable. We recommend to use a good dictionary to find out whether a noun is countable or uncountable or both.

Here is an example:

hair – hairs

• You've got some hairs on your T-shirt. (There might be 5 or 6 of them.)
• Your hair looks lovely. (Here you think of the hairstyle.)

The plural of nouns in English

1. Regular Plural Forms

1.1. How to form the plural

We form the plural by adding -s to the singular of the noun.

Singular	Plural
a car	two cars
a cassette	two cassettes
a lamp	two lamps
a hat	two hats
a cup	two cups

1.2. Nouns ending in sibilants

Add -es. Add -s if the noun ends in one -e.

Singular	Plural
a box	two boxes
a sandwich	two sandwiches
a suitcase	two suitcases
a rose	two roses
a garage	two garages

1.3. Nouns ending in -y

1.3.1. y after consonant

Change -y to -i, then add -es.

Singular	Plural
a city	two cities
a lady	two ladies

There are two forms of the plural of the word penny:

• pennies → You refer to the single coins.
• pence →You refer to the price (how much sth. is).

1.3.2. y after vowel

Add -s after a vowel.

Singular	Plural
a boy	two boys
a day	two days

1.4. Nouns ending in -f or -fe

1.4.1. Add -s

Singular	Plural
a roof	two roofs
a cliff	two cliffs
a sheriff	two sheriffs

1.4.2. Substitute with -ves

Singular	Plural
a thief	two thieves
a wife	two wives
a shelf	two shelves

Both forms are possible with the following nous:

• scarf → scarfs/scarves
• hoof → hoofs/hooves

Add -s for words ending in -ff.

1.5. Nouns ending in -o

1.5.1. Add -s

Singular	Plural
a disco	two discos
a piano	two pianos
a photo	two photos

1.5.2. Add -s

Singular	Plural
a tomato	two tomatoes
a potato	two potatoes
a hero	two heroes

Both forms are possible with the following nous:

• buffalo → buffalos/buffaloes
• mosquito → mosquitos/mosquitoes
• tornado → tornados/tornadoes

2. Irregular Plural Forms

Singular	Plural
a man	two men
a woman	two women
a child	two children
a mouse	two mice
a tooth	two teeth
a goose	two geese
a foot	two feet
an ox	two oxen

Nouns used in their singular forms

In English there are nouns that are used only in the singular.

1. Collections

Noun	Sentence
furniture	She bought new furniture last week.
fruit	Would you like some fruit?
hair*	Your hair looks lovely.

other examples: luggage, jewellry

2. Some nouns ending in -s

Noun	Sentence
news	Good evening. Here is the news.
physics	Physics is our first lesson on Monday morning.
progress	Progress was made in developing new technologies.
The United States	The United States is a country with 50 federal states.

other examples: athletics, billards, crossroads, darts, economics, gymnastics, maths, mumps, politics, series

3. Special nouns

Noun	Sentence
homework	My maths homework was not easy.
information	For further information on the hotel, phone us at ....
knowledge	His knowledge of English is excellent.

other examples: advice, damage, work

Nouns used in singular and plural

Which phrase is correct - the class was or the class were? Is the word class a singular noun or a plural noun? This question cannot be answered with Yes or No. Use the singular if you see the class as a group of students. Use the plural if you see the class as single students.

In British English the plural is used more often than in American English.

Sentence	Explanation
The family is on holiday.	I see the family as a group.
The family are packing their suitcases.	I see the single members of the family packing their suitcases.

Sentence	Explanation
Team B was very successful today.	I see Team B as a group.
Team B were very successful today.	I see the single members of Team B. Each member of the team was successful. I could also say: All members of Team B were very successful.

There are more words which can be singular or plural nouns:

• army                  الجيش
• band           فرقة موسيقية
• choir                     جوقة
• class           فصل دراسي
• club                     نادى
• crew                    طاقم
• company           صحبة
• firm                    شركة
• gang                  عصابة
• government       حكومة
• orchestra   فرقة اوركيسترا
• party            حزب سياسى
• staff.                    هيئة

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Nouns used in their plural forms

In English there are nouns that are used only in the plural.

1. Pair nouns

Noun	Sentence
jeans	Where are my jeans?
glasses	She has lost her glasses.
scissors	These scissors don't cut well.

If you want to refer to an exact number, use a/one pair of, like in the following example.

• I have bought a pair of jeans.
• I have bought two pairs of jeans.

There are more nouns: binoculars, headphones, pyjamas, scales, shorts, tights, trousers.

2. Nouns not used in the singular (headwords)

Noun	Sentence
cattle	Male cattle are called bulls.
clothes	He bought some new clothes yesterday.
stairs	The children ran down the stairs.
wages	The wages are paid on the last day of the month.
people *	Three people were killed in the car crash last Friday evening.
police	Look! The police are coming.

* The word people can be used in the singular with another meaning:

• They are a friendly people.
• The native peoples of Africa often have black skins.

3. Nationalities

The following nationalities (no -s) are used in the pural:

• the Dutch
• the British
• the English
• the French
• the Spanish
• the Welsh

The singular of the English would be the Englishman.